Word of the Day: Flukey
MTV.com recently ran an article in which Idol alums give advice to the current AI5 group releasing albums. The article has the line “What did Kelly do right that Justin did wrong?”
How ridiculous is that? As if either of them had any real career direction control right after their season of Idol. They did what their handlers had them do. The question should be “What did Simon Fuller and Clive Davis do right with Kelly and what did they do wrong with Justin?”
Between the media’s superficial reporting and the general naivete’ about the way the entertainment business works, sometimes we just can’t help but yank our hair out by the roots. And while some women look pretty damn good bald, we’re sad to say we’re not among them.
So, in an effort to save our remaining coiffure, we offer as an answer to MTV’s question, this lesson in the entertainment business: It’s flukey.
That’s it, in a nutshell. It’s flukey. There are people with loads of talent who never make it big, while there are people with average (or low) talent who explode. Success does not equal talent, nor vice versa. Which category of success someone falls into can be a matter of fluke.
Yes, sometimes people with big talent are successful. Take Jennifer Hudson, about to appear in Dreamgirls and getting a lot of buzz. She is very talented, although she didn’t make it to the end of Idol. But, her anticipated success is as much the result of fluke as anything. If she hadn’t competed in the third season of Idol, if she hadn’t managed to escape the clutches of 19 Management post-Idol, if Bill Condon hadn’t finally gotten it together to shoot Dreamgirls when he did, she would probably remain lost in the shadows. Even with her Idol exposure, without the fact that Condon looked for his Effie when he did, she probably would have continued to fade into the post-Idol sunset. Her casting as "Effie" is the proverbial fluke. A career-making fluke, perhaps, but a fluke nonetheless.
After the first season of Idol, Fuller and crew have acknowledged that they held Justin back so that the winner could have her “time alone in the spotlight.” They did not allow him to release a single, or an album, or accept any of the various offers that were being sent his way. And he was getting a lot of offers, because at the end of the first season, Justin was a hot, hot property.
But anything hot cools down if the flames aren’t fanned, and after nine months of nothing, when it came time for Justin finally to have his time, the attention had moved on. The first season winner had her chance for the spotlight, and her project got priority, not only in terms of timing but in terms of budget and promotion. At the time, so-called “pop princesses" were a hot item in the music industry, the fluke Fuller and Davis took advantage of to create multi-platinum sales. What Fuller and Davis did right with her is get her music out there, and push it hard on radio and MTV. What Fuller and Davis did wrong with Justin is force him to hang in the shadows far too long, force him to record music that didn’t come from his artistic heart, and ultimately fail to make his success a priority.
When her first album was not surprisingly a success, the first season winner again got access to all the resources of a major label and the benefits of being made a priority at that label, and her second album has gone on to do exceptionally well. Her upcoming third album should at least start strong because of all those resources she has at her disposal. She doesn’t need flukes anymore. Nor will Jennifer Hudson if Dreamgirls is a hit.
By contrast, because Justin’s momentum was stolen from him, he has to make his own resources. He is working as hard and has both the breadth and depth of talent that deserves success. Whether he ever again gains a national stage, unfortunately, has less to do with his talent than the public might think. He will need one of those flukes.
So, is Justin’s Dreamgirls is out there? Only time will tell. If not, however, ever since he escaped the Idol machine, Justin Guarini has made a career to be proud of. A self-made career. And that part’s no fluke.
Justin Guarini debuts "Missing You" in concert
How ridiculous is that? As if either of them had any real career direction control right after their season of Idol. They did what their handlers had them do. The question should be “What did Simon Fuller and Clive Davis do right with Kelly and what did they do wrong with Justin?”
Between the media’s superficial reporting and the general naivete’ about the way the entertainment business works, sometimes we just can’t help but yank our hair out by the roots. And while some women look pretty damn good bald, we’re sad to say we’re not among them.
So, in an effort to save our remaining coiffure, we offer as an answer to MTV’s question, this lesson in the entertainment business: It’s flukey.
That’s it, in a nutshell. It’s flukey. There are people with loads of talent who never make it big, while there are people with average (or low) talent who explode. Success does not equal talent, nor vice versa. Which category of success someone falls into can be a matter of fluke.
Yes, sometimes people with big talent are successful. Take Jennifer Hudson, about to appear in Dreamgirls and getting a lot of buzz. She is very talented, although she didn’t make it to the end of Idol. But, her anticipated success is as much the result of fluke as anything. If she hadn’t competed in the third season of Idol, if she hadn’t managed to escape the clutches of 19 Management post-Idol, if Bill Condon hadn’t finally gotten it together to shoot Dreamgirls when he did, she would probably remain lost in the shadows. Even with her Idol exposure, without the fact that Condon looked for his Effie when he did, she probably would have continued to fade into the post-Idol sunset. Her casting as "Effie" is the proverbial fluke. A career-making fluke, perhaps, but a fluke nonetheless.
After the first season of Idol, Fuller and crew have acknowledged that they held Justin back so that the winner could have her “time alone in the spotlight.” They did not allow him to release a single, or an album, or accept any of the various offers that were being sent his way. And he was getting a lot of offers, because at the end of the first season, Justin was a hot, hot property.
But anything hot cools down if the flames aren’t fanned, and after nine months of nothing, when it came time for Justin finally to have his time, the attention had moved on. The first season winner had her chance for the spotlight, and her project got priority, not only in terms of timing but in terms of budget and promotion. At the time, so-called “pop princesses" were a hot item in the music industry, the fluke Fuller and Davis took advantage of to create multi-platinum sales. What Fuller and Davis did right with her is get her music out there, and push it hard on radio and MTV. What Fuller and Davis did wrong with Justin is force him to hang in the shadows far too long, force him to record music that didn’t come from his artistic heart, and ultimately fail to make his success a priority.
When her first album was not surprisingly a success, the first season winner again got access to all the resources of a major label and the benefits of being made a priority at that label, and her second album has gone on to do exceptionally well. Her upcoming third album should at least start strong because of all those resources she has at her disposal. She doesn’t need flukes anymore. Nor will Jennifer Hudson if Dreamgirls is a hit.
By contrast, because Justin’s momentum was stolen from him, he has to make his own resources. He is working as hard and has both the breadth and depth of talent that deserves success. Whether he ever again gains a national stage, unfortunately, has less to do with his talent than the public might think. He will need one of those flukes.
So, is Justin’s Dreamgirls is out there? Only time will tell. If not, however, ever since he escaped the Idol machine, Justin Guarini has made a career to be proud of. A self-made career. And that part’s no fluke.
Justin Guarini debuts "Missing You" in concert
Labels: american idol, concert, dreamgirls, jennifer hudson, justin guarini, missing you, mtv.com
posted by Essential Crew | 4:40 PM
3 Comments:
Well said. Justin is an amazing young man who has certainly made lemonade out of the many lemons that have been handed to him. I look forward to the day that he gets that "fluke" project that leads him to the top again. I am sure the folks at AI will only be too glad to reclaim him as they have Jennifer Hudson now that Dreamgirls is blowing up.
Terrific assessment! It's so spot-on and obvious I wonder why it hasn't been said more often.
Go Justin. You remain one of the best new talents ever discovered, then foolishly mishandled.
As a fan of Kelly Clarkson, I agree with you 100%. And now look at Season Five and what they did with the Top 10 there. They are learning. (Hopefully)
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